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The following article was printed in the Hooksett Banner on Jan. 20, 2011. This text version was supplied by Ginger Kozlowski, Executive Editor, Neighborhood News Inc.
Sewer cost overrun will go before voters
by Dan O'Brien
It will be up to voters to decide if sewer officials can use $360,108 in a reserve fund to pay for a 22.5 percent cost overrun of a sewer facility expansion project.
Selectmen were first told by sewer officials this month that an expansion of the Allenstown Wastewater Treatment Facility would actually cost the town $1.98 million – not the $1.625 million figure given to the public at a special town meeting in 2009, when voters approved the project.
Officials said the $360,108 needed has already been raised, so there will be no direct tax impact. They also said half of that money, about $180,000, will likely be reimbursed by the federal stimulus package, saying Allenstown is high on the list of communities to receive that money.
Selectmen voted on Monday, Jan. 17, to recommend – reluctantly – that residents vote in favor of a warrant article that authorizes the Sewer Commission to tap into a reserve account to pay for the cost overrun.
"I think this whole thing was handled terribly," Selectman Jeff Gryval said. "But I think we have no other choice."
Selectman Roger LaFleur was not present, but the remaining two selectmen, Gryval and Jason Tardiff, voted in favor of recommending the warrant article.
Officials said that if the article is not approved, the town will not get stimulus money for half of the overrun.
"This is an unfortunate expense. We’re still on the hook," Budget Committee member Carl Caporale said. "This is a 50 percent coupon. Let’s aim for the coupon."
The meeting marked the second Monday night in a row town officials criticized the Allenstown Sewer Commission and Michael Trainque, vice president of the Manchester engineering firm Hoyle,
Tanner and Associates Inc. for not being up front about the added expenses. Sewer Commission Chairman Jim Rodger told selectmen the previous week that his board knew of the cost overrun six months ago.
"I think we face a systemic, organic problem with the Sewer Commission," Budget Committee member Mike Frascinella said. "They knew about it back in June. To me, that’s upsetting."
The overrun for the entire project was actually $1.26 million, but the project vendor, Cambridge Water Technologies, kicked in $900,000 of that amount. [emphasis added]
Trainque said he and sewer officials were caught off guard by the sudden rise in costs in the midst of the project.
"We were blindsided," Trainque said. "The problem came up during design. This was completely unforeseen even to the vendor."
He pointed out the project was the first ever in the United States.
"There was no database to compare to," Trainque said. "Normally it’s not a first-of-its-kind."
The project design was "85 to 90 percent complete" at the time the higher cost estimate was received, according to a joint written statement by the sewer commission and Hoyle, Tanner.
They said "timing was critical" because, in order to receive federal stimulus funds, a construction contract needed to be finalized by February 2010.
The project is expected to be fully completed in the next week. It uses a state-of-the-art process called BioMag, which allows greater amounts of waste to settle without building additional aeration tanks.
"You had a bond in 2009 for $1.6 million and you should have stayed within those boundaries," Budget Committee Chairman Sandra McKenney said. "There’s other town projects and they don’t go over. There’s no ifs, ands, or buts."
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